Seeing that Gu Minxuan really was exhausted, Qin Cheng stopped beating around the bush and said directly, “I want you to help set up a meeting.”
“With whom?” Gu Minxuan had only been in B City for a little over two months. The time was short, yet he had met quite a few people from both business and government circles, though none were especially close.
“Chairman Feng’s executive assistant, Lin Zhou.” Qin Cheng sighed. Just thinking about the mess gave him a headache.
“Lin Zhou?” Gu Minxuan repeated the name to himself. He had indeed heard people around him mention her, but he had never met her.
Two months earlier, on his first day at Hefeng, Feng Hexu had told him that if there was anything he wanted to understand about the company, he could ask either of the assistants by his side. One was Lin Zhou, the other Hou Kecheng.
He had met Hou Kecheng, a man in his early thirties who was polite, modest, and easy to get along with.
But he had never seen Lin Zhou.
In his second week at the company, Feng Hexu handed over his work to Gu Minxuan and another vice president, Zhang Yang, and then left on a business trip.
Hou Kecheng stayed at headquarters, while Lin Zhou, whom Gu Minxuan had yet to meet, was taken along.
Feng Hexu intended to expand overseas operations. Once he left, he was gone for two full months, without saying when he would return.
He did not take many people with him, but everyone knew that Lin Zhou was indispensable.
There were rumors in the company that Lin Zhou was a woman of considerable capability. Whether it was Feng Hexu’s personal affairs or company business, she handled everything in perfect order and rarely made mistakes.
Everyone also knew that Feng Hexu was a charming and uninhibited man. Even in his forties, he was still a veteran of the dating scene, with romantic entanglements spread across the country.
Yet all of these relationships somehow remained peaceful, entirely due to Lin Zhou’s careful management and mediation. What was even more interesting was that in recent years, Feng Hexu had reined himself in. In the past, he was accompanied by different women wherever he went. Now, regardless of the occasion, Lin Zhou was the only woman by his side.
Some employees even speculated in private that the forty four year old Feng Hexu wanted to settle down, and that the future Mrs. Feng would be Lin Zhou, who had been with him for nearly seven years.
“Why do you want to invite her?” Gu Minxuan asked.
At the mention of the reason, Qin Cheng grew angry. “Two months ago, I planned to bring a lawyer into the firm as a partner. Over the past few years, this lawyer had brought in a lot of business, and the firm kept expanding. We partners thought it was all due to his outstanding ability, that someone so young could achieve what we old hands couldn’t.”
“And what does that have to do with Lin Zhou?” Gu Minxuan stood up and swung his racket, eager to play again.
“In the past two months, those clients have terminated their contracts one after another, using all sorts of excuses. Every single one was business handled by that lawyer.”
That really was quite a coincidence. Gu Minxuan pressed his lips together and smiled. “Don’t tell me your lawyer offended Lin Zhou.”
“Offended is putting it lightly,” Qin Cheng said with a helpless smile. “You don’t know until you investigate, and once you do, it’s shocking. Almost all of that lawyer’s business was privately managed for him by Lin Zhou.”
“Interesting.” Gu Minxuan thought to himself that perhaps Lin Zhou had taken a liking to a young pretty face, only for him to refuse her, leading to anger and retaliation by cutting off the lawyer’s income.
“Interesting?” Qin Cheng looked like he was about to cry. “Later I asked him if he knew Lin Zhou. Turns out she’s his former fiancée. He was the one who proposed breaking up two months ago.”
Qin Cheng sighed. “What’s even more interesting is that he only knew his fiancée was an assistant at Hefeng. He had no idea her boss was the famous Feng Hexu of B City, and he didn’t know that all the business he handled had been pulled in through his fiancée using her personal connections.”
“Fiancée?” Gu Minxuan recalled the rumors within the company and then thought over Qin Cheng’s words. His impression of Lin Zhou worsened further.
A woman with a fiancé who had an ambiguous relationship with her boss, then decisively cut off her ex fiancé’s livelihood after the breakup. That suggested someone vindictive and narrow minded.
“Of course she was his fiancée. Everyone at our firm knew the young lawyer was planning to get married on October first. He had already handed out wedding candies once.”
Qin Cheng did not know all the details. He just wanted Gu Minxuan to arrange a meeting and ask Lin Zhou to be magnanimous and let their firm off the hook.
“Let me ask you something. Is Lin Zhou’s relationship with Chairman Feng unusual?” Qin Cheng continued. “The lawyer said Lin Zhou was often not at home. One call from her boss, and she would get out of bed immediately, no matter the time or what she was doing, and rush over. A few times, things between them were getting heated when a call from her boss cut it off. He said it nearly left him impotent. He felt he had been cheated on, so he proposed the breakup.”
Gu Minxuan did not like gossiping about others. Even though he had heard rumors about Lin Zhou and Feng Hexu, he was unwilling to speculate.
“Who knows,” he replied flatly. “If you already know Lin Zhou is retaliating deliberately, what’s the point of setting up a meeting?”
“I don’t know if it will help either. At this point, even a dead horse has to be treated like a living one. Of course, if you can get familiar with those companies directly and help me get the business back without going through Lin Zhou, that works too.”
“Which companies?” Gu Minxuan asked.
Qin Cheng listed them one by one, which left Gu Minxuan astonished. These companies were all top tier in B City. He had only been there a few months. Knowing them was one thing, getting them to do him a favor was another.
He had to admit that Lin Zhou was truly formidable. Even these major companies gave her face, which showed that her position at Hefeng was not to be underestimated.
“It’s difficult,” Gu Minxuan said, shaking his head. “I’ve been with the company too short a time. My foundation isn’t stable. They may not give me face.”
The projects he was handling were not progressing well. Forget other companies, even within Hefeng, he might not yet be viewed favorably.
This was a very realistic world. Only results earned respect. Right now, he was essentially starting from scratch and struggling every step of the way.
Perhaps setting up this meeting would be a chance to get to know Lin Zhou.
Lin Zhou, being criticized behind her back, was currently ill overseas. She could not adapt to the local conditions, and combined with the breakup, her health quickly gave out.
After being sick for a while, she lost a noticeable amount of weight.
In the end, Feng Hexu could not stand it anymore and told her to pack up and return to B City, sending Hou Kecheng to replace her.
Before she left, Feng Hexu instructed her, “The Jingcheng suburban resort project won’t be easy. Give a hand when appropriate. Also keep an eye on Yunni’s move into the film and television industry. That girl is impulsive and careless. You must help her keep things under control. The entertainment industry is muddy water. She may not see things clearly. If guidance isn’t enough, you may intervene as needed.”
“Hefeng is large. With me gone, someone will always try to stir up trouble. Stay nearby and keep watch. As for how Gu Minxuan and Zhang Yang handle things, just observe from a distance.”
The last part sounded impartial, yet earlier he had told her she could help Gu Minxuan when appropriate, which hinted at a slight bias in his favor.
Taken together, Lin Zhou guessed that Feng Hexu seemed to value the newly appointed vice president more.
She sniffed softly and said with a nasal tone, “I understand.”